FreeBSD CD

Download the ISO image from here: ftp://ftp-archive.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/old-releases/i386/ISO-IMAGES/4.10/4.10-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso

Check the md5 sum of the downloaded file, it must be acdfe766794b0b5fbb2e5997af6e78dd

For exemple with Cygwin, use the following command:

Then, burn it (e.g. using Nero) and make sure the CD is bootable by using it on a computer (put the CD in the machine, reboot and see if it boots FreeBSD).

Setup

• For the RAID, ask the shop support to configure the server in RAID1 mode.

Normally they need to set it in the RAID adapter control interface (a screen that comes just after the startup of the machine, before boot).

I cannot give you more details on this, but they will know.

• After install, we will test if networking works, so we need to plug the server on a router.

It does not need to have Internet access, only to be on a network, and have something to ping (ping the router is sufficient).

Plug each network interface of the server (it must have two) on a different port of the router, as we won’t know which interface corresponds to which network plug on the server.

Installation

Insert the FreeBSD CD and boot the server.

If it doesn’t boot on CD, order must be changed in the BIOS.

A successful boot looks as follows:

I cannot know what the disk names will be on the server, so here are some hints:

• Everything that is named ad0, ad1, ad2, etc. is a single disk (no RAID).
• RAID disks should have names like ar0, ar1, ar2, amrd0, amrd1, etc.

If hardware RAID is correctly recognized, you should see only one hard disk (e.g. ar0 or amrd0).

In this case, the installer will not prompt which disk to install on, and everything is fine (the case that is presented here).

If not, a small window will ask you to choose the disk to install on.

There are two possibilities:

• If you have to choose between ad[0,2] and ar0, then RAID should be fine.

In this case, pick ar0

• If the disks names are something like ad0, ad1, ad2, etc. this means that the system sees them as separated disks and hardware RAID will not work.

In this case, continue the installation as shown here, selecting the disk which has the smallest index.

Type A

Type Q

Type C

Type C

Type C

Type C

For this partition size, pick all the remaining size on disk (keep the value the installer shows you, just press OK)

Type Q

Highlight minimal and press Space

Then press Tab to select the OK button and validate by pressing Enter

Here you will have to choose the appropriate network card to configure.

The “real” hardware cards should be on top of the list, and contain the vendor name in their label (e.g. HP XXXX).

On the server, there should be 2, pick any of the two.

Configure the network according to the network it is plugged to (the technicians of the shop will know what to use).

For example here, I configured it in a private network, using IP addresses 192.168.1.10, gateway 192.168.1.1 and netmask 255.255.255.0.

You don’t need to specify a name server.

For host and domain, you can use anything you want, but they must be present.

So first fill the Host part with bsdtest, then the Domain with test.ch. Domain name will be added to the host name automatically.

Adapt the timezone to your location :

Choose a password (you’ll have to enter it twice, and it must be at least 6 characters long, as shown):

Finally, select Exit Install:

Don’t forget to eject the CD before it boots on it (eject at the moment just after the bios of the computer shows).

After install

After reboot, login as root, and enter the password you chose during the installation:

Ping the gateway to see if networking works.

Adapt the IP address that you ping (here 192.168.1.1) to the IP address of the local network gateway.

Lastly, I need the results of three commands (you’ll have to note it on paper).

cat /etc/fstab :

mount :

df –h :

This will show if everything is correctly detected with the disks.